Should A Christian Use Birth Control? If So, What Forms Are Acceptable?

Is it sin to use birth control? If birth control is okay, what forms are acceptable to God? Can we know from the Scriptures?

Birth Control and Contraceptives Methods

There are dozens of birth control and contraceptive methods that are available. Hormonal methods include the use of oral contraceptives (called “the Pill”), skin patches, and vaginal rings. Hormonal methods contain estrogen and progestin. There are progestin-only hormonal methods and even the IUD. There are even birth control shots that are effective for a period of 3 months. Male and now female condoms are available. Others include the diaphragm, cervical cap, cervical shield, and the contraceptive shield. None are 100% effective in preventing conception and many can cause medical complications for women.

Life begins at conception and so before conception there is no life possible by the mother’s egg as it stands alone.

When Does Life Begin?

Most pro-abortionists have ambiguous answers to the question of when life begins. Some say it is when a heart beat is detected, others say it is about 6 months when premature babies have been born, and still others say it is at birth. Where in the Bible can we see when life actually begins?

Most Bible scholars and theologians, like most Christians, believe life begins at conception. That is the time when the sperm penetrates and fertilizes the egg. It is not what some pro-abortionists claim that life begins at birth. This is contrary to what the Bible says. When the male’s 23 chromosomes and female’s 23 chromosomes combine, a zygote is formed, but is a zygote human? The number of cells has explosive growth at this point and in a few days a blastocyst forms and attaches to woman’s uterine wall. But is it still a human being yet? The Bible would seem to support this.

Psalm 139:13-16 says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” What is noteworthy here is that God saw the writer as already being in existence. Even while he was being knit together, he was a human being. His frame was not hidden from God and God saw his “unformed body.” So we see that God indicates from Scripture that life begins at conception. Again the Psalmist writes, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5).

Here the psalmist says that he was sinful at his mother’s conceiving me. There is no mistaking this Hebrew word because conceiving means at the time of conception, so according to the Bible, life actually begins at conception. This is strong evidence that even early, mid, and later-term abortions are the taking of a life.

Let’s imagine that I am growing tomatoes and that I plant the tomato seed in the starter cups. I put it in potting soil and water it. There is no mistake that it is a tomato seed because it doesn’t produce an apple tree but a tomato plant. The moment the water and the soil penetrate the seed, it germinates…and it generates a root from the seed. It is now technically a tomato plant. It is a tomato seedling but no less a tomato. If someone came and stomped on my tomato seedling, even though it is not yet grown, would someone say that “I didn’t kill your tomato plant?” No, they are actually destroying a tomato plant but at the seedling stage.

Is Birth Control the Same as Abortion?

Is birth control equal to abortion? It would not appear to be because conception is the beginning of life as the egg is fertilized by the sperm and it becomes a zygote. An egg can not create a life of itself but it needs the necessary male sperm to create a zygote. A zygote has an equal number of the fathers and mothers chromosomes. In just a few days a blastocyst forms and the human life continues to grow at an amazingly rapid rate. An egg by itself can not be determined to be a human life because it has no male chromosomes and has not became a zygote yet.

Birth control is simply prohibiting the fertilization by the male sperm of the female’s egg and so the egg can not become a zygote. It only becomes human when the two become one, much like when a man and woman marry; the two become one in flesh. The man and woman actually do become one flesh…they help to create one human being when the sperm fertilizes the egg and a zygote is created. So like the tomato seed, if someone crushed it, they wouldn’t really be crushing a tomato plant because it has not even sprouted or can not even be said to be a seedling because no soil and water have germinated it. If someone eats a tomato and they swallow the seed, they are not swallowing a tomato plant but a tomato with the seeds being part of it of the tomato. The same principle applies because without the penetration of the male sperm, the female’s egg does not become a zygote and has no chance of becoming one without fertilization.

Should a Christian Use Birth Control?

There seems to be no conflict, biblically and biologically speaking, that using birth control takes a human life. If the egg is prevented from being fertilized, no human life has been taken. Many couples who already have several children utilize birth control methods to prevent them from having additional children. Some religions believe that birth control is sin because it takes a human life but biblically and biologically, this does not appear to be the case because the female egg can not possibly be called a viable organism as a zygote because it has not been fertilized. Clearly abortion is the taking of a human life because God describes a person being “knitted together in my mother’s womb”, “being sinful” at conception, and “being woven together” even though the “unformed body” was seen by God’s eyes.

There was a death penalty for killing the unborn back in biblical times.

Exodus 21:22-24 records that “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” Luke 1:41-44 indicates that the unborn child was very much alive because, “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.”

Since we can clearly see that once conception occurs and all the way through a woman’s pregnancy, there is a human being inside the mother’s womb. John the Baptist’s father said that his name will be John and Mary was told that her child’s name would be Jesus. John and Jesus were named during the early stages of pregnancy and names indicate that they are already deemed human, before they are born. These individuals were given names before they were even born so life clearly does not begin at birth but at conception and all the way through all the 9 month period of a woman’s pregnancy. So based upon this reasoning, it appears that there is no sin if a woman uses birth control because there is no life being taken. It is only conception that is being prevented. Life begins at conception and so before conception there is no life possible by the mother’s egg as it stands alone. Children are the gift of God but some have more children than they can already afford, therefore I see no reasonable cause that should prohibit a Christian from using birth control methods and in fact, for any male who has already had children, to undergo sterilization. That is their choice. Life begins at conception, when the egg is fertilized by the male sperm…and not before then.

Jack Wellman is a father and grandfather and a Christian author, freelance writer, and pastor at the Mulvane (KS) Brethren church in Mulvane, Kansas. Graduate work at Moody Bible Institute. His books are inexpensive paperbacks that are theological in nature: “Teaching Children The Gospel/How to Raise Godly Children,“ “Do Babies Go To Heaven?/Why Does God Allow Suffering?,“ "The Great Omission; Reaching the Lost for Christ," and “Blind Chance or Intelligent Design?, Empirical Methodologies & the Bible."

Jack has written 361 articles on What Christians Want To Know! Read them in the archive below.

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Great article Jack,
This is certainly a topic which incites passionate responses. I pray God will use your article to cause Christians to think about this issue in depth. prayerfully. God bless you, brother.
Yours in Christ,
Robert

Sara, there IS hope for you. Why do I say that? Remember King David was an adulterer, and a murderer, yet He will be in the Kingdom of Heaven. There is hope indeed. 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Read that again! That’s why they call it the Good News! When we confess our sins, He forgives us of ALL our unrighteousness and cleanses us from ALL our sins.

Further, the moment you place your trust in Christ, you have been forgiven all sins and God will not hold these over our head anymore. 1 Cor 1:30 says, “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God–that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”

Read these:

Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ–their Lord and ours.

1 Corinthians 6:11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.

God said it, and God can not lie, so you must believe it! You are cleansed…you are forgiven! No more regrets, okay!? God is good, Jesus blood covered yours and my sins. Now, sleep in peace and have peace of mind.

Sara, I am overjoyed that we could help give you hope and peace of mind. There is no condemnation for those who are now in Christ Jesus and that includes you! No condemnation, no judgement to worry about, only a looking forward to the Kingdom of Heaven.

The problem is the abortifacient effects of the birth control pill(speaking specifically about that b/c it’s so common, but this also applies to any chemical-based contraception). We all probably know someone who has gotten pregnant while on birth control. That’s because it’s not 100% effective. The person who gets pregnant & finds out about it while on the pill is truly meant to be pregnant because the pill is designed to provided multiple hurdles for conception. First, it suppresses ovulation. Second, without getting too graphic, makes it more difficult for the sperm themselves to make the journey (kinda gross, so I’m leaving the specifics out). Third, as a last ditch effort, if you do ovulate (this is called breakthrough ovulation) & the sperm does reach the egg & conception occurs, the chemicals in the pill cause the lining of the uterus to reject the baby.

Considering that many women are on the pill for years upon years, it is not much of a stretch to say that it is likely that at some point ovulation did occur and this last ditch effort had to be used (unbeknownst to the woman, of course). And that’s not counting the number of time she forgets her pill and ends up taking two in one day, inevitably altering her hormones. In fact, studies have been done and show that breakthrough ovulations occur in between 2 & 10% of cycles. For the sake of drama here: That means in one year, or 12 cycles, the woman has ovulated at least once. Has the sperm reached the egg? Who knows. But is it worth the risk? I know women who have been on the pill for a decade. I wouldn’t want to gamble with those odds, or any, if a potential life is at stake.

Not enough women, or married couples are aware of this aspect of oral contraception. Babies ARE being conceived and aborted.

By the way, I second Jack’s encouragement of Sara. Sara, have you confessed your sin? Are you sorry? You are a new woman! You’ve got to let it go & move toward Jesus. His arms are open & waiting! He loves you, sister!

Thank you Jack for making this so clear. To be honest this is an issue that has always travelled my mind and i never found an answer to it. Sometimes as christians we tent to see everything as a sin without digging deeper into the root of the problem itself, but this article just brought clarification to the matter.

Hello Rozanna. I appreciate your kind words. To be honest, until I was ask to write on this topic, I had never really thought about it. But the Bible helps give me clarity in areas that are sometimes gray. Thank you so much for your encouragement my friend.

The funny thing is that, whenever thinking about this kind of topics, the last place you thing of seeking answers from is the bible, But this just opened my eyes to see that there is an answer to everything the word of God and that there is where we should actually start from before anywhere else.

Marne, your words are such a comfort because believe me, not all of them have been on articles that I write from the Bible and so you have given me encouragement in more ways than you even know. Thank you and I thank God FOR you Marne.

Hello,what is your view on genesis 38:9 regarding Onan spilling his seed and therefore killed by God? I understand it can be perceived that he was killed for not giving his brothers wife a child considering they had been barren. But he was in fact killed for preventing a child from being conceived….what do you think? Do you know any versus that support birth control? Because it does say “be fruitful and multiply”…. I have mixed emotions!

Hello Brett. Great question sir. I do not have a Scripture that supports birth control but neither do I have one that is said to prohibit it. I too have mixed emotions on this issue. The Genesis 38:9 text has been used by a united Christianity down through the centuries to show that acts of contraception are immoral. That is because Onan had sex with his wife, Tamar, and did not want to raise the children for his brother, who had died. He had sex but contracepted the act. There are no doubt varying things that Onan did that was wrong, but a united Christianity has always taught that the principle act that caused Onan’s death was this contraceptive act: Have sex and avoid the consequences. Once Protestantism discarded the 1900 years of Christian teaching against contraception, starting with the Lambeth Conference by the Anglicans in 1930, then alternative explanations had to begin to be manufactured to say, ‘well this has nothing to do with birth control.’ There are tons of not only Church Fathers and Catholic theologians, but even Protestants who for 400 years, saw in this act a condemnation by Scripture of birth control.

“And Onan knew that the seed should not be his”

Should not be called a son of his, but a son of his brother Er; this is to be understood only of the firstborn; all the rest of the children born afterwards were reckoned the children of the real parent of them; this shows this was a custom in use in those times, and well known, and was not a peculiar case.

“and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife”

to cohabit with her, as man and wife, he having married her according to his father’s direction.

“that he spilled [it] on the ground, lest he should give his seed to his brother”

lest his brother’s wife he had married should conceive by him, and bear a son that should be called his brother’s, and inherit his estate; and this is the sin, which from him is called Onania, a sin condemned by the light of nature, as well as by the word of God, and very prejudicial to mankind, as well as displeasing to God.

Thank you for making me think…my head hurt after this one. It does say to be fruitful and multiply but this was because the earth was needed to be filled with humans and that was a one time event. I don’t know if this satisfied you or not. Fantastic question.

In light of today’s rather heavily contested article, let me just comment on this one and say that I fully agree with your conclusion in this article. People argue that birth control is a sin because it interferes with God’s design of the human body, but if God wants a couple to have a child, can His Will really be stopped by a piece of rubber or a pill? I certainly believe that God is greater than any man-made contraception, and so if God decides that a couple is to have a child, then nothing that couple can do will prevent that child from being conceived. On the other hand, I believe that God created our bodies to be self-sufficient to a degree. Does God guide us through life, and make plans for our lives? Of course. Does God control every time our bodies normally function, though? I don’t think so. I doubt God is up there controlling every time we go to the bathroom, for instance. Given this thought, I believe that God did make our reproductive organs to also be a bit self-sufficient, meaning that they were meant to operate in a certain way, and if we do not put some barrier in the way of that function, then our bodies will carry out their God-designed functions of reproduction, whether God intended for a couple to have two children or twenty. At some point our stubborn free will has to play a roll in this, whether for better or worse.

I’m sure some would argue that if God didn’t want you to have children, then you wouldn’t conceive, but again, I believe that God did create our bodies with a certain level of self-sufficiency, so if a husband and wife have a very active sex life without contraception, then they are more than likely going to have a lot of children through their bodies simply doing what God designed them to do. On the other hand, a couple who uses contraception non-stop in the desire to have a child would not be able to interfere with God’s Will that they eventually have a child, in my opinion. Again, God is greater than a condom, a pill, or even an operation, in my opinion. In other words, we can use whatever contraceptive methods we want, but if God deems that a couple is to have a child, and that child is to serve a God-given purpose, then there is nothing that couple can do (aside from abortion, which IS a sin) to prevent that child from being born.

Jack, I am from Canada and just wanted to let you know I think this is an awesome website and you seem to really care about people that message you.

Robert, although I am on the fence about the BC being a sin or not… The comment about God controlling our every day functions… He does say ” not a hair shall fall from our head with out the will of God…” I take comfort in knowing God is in control of even the most minute aspects of my life. I also agree with you that we are not smarter than God. But that leads me to believe that if we put complete faith in him and trust he knows better than we do than we shouldn’t be using BC. As all our lives are pre destined getting pregnant therefore could not be an accident.

Hello Brett. Greetings to you, our brother in Christ to the North. You are spot on friend about God’s sovereignty. With a quick reading of Ephesians 1 & 2, there is no doubt that any of us are “accidents” for if even a sparrow does not fall to the ground that God is not aware of, then how much more so than our being born. Please do come back again soon sir.

Jack I am so happy to be following your blogs! This is a subject that I too am very passionate about. In fact I have written a few articles on Wikinut about anti abortion. One was entitled “America’s overly tolerant nature when it comes to Abortion.” Believe it or not there are some atheist who also believe that abortion is immoral. I embedded a video in one of my articles in which an atheist stated that abortion is immoral.

I am so over joyed the way you helped the girl who had an abortion realize that it is not too late to repent and come to Christ. My heart goes out for her and she is in my prayers!! This blog is just what I was looking for to include in my articles about anti abortion. Our young people have been led down the wrong path and it is time to take our society back so that we can proceed down the path of righteousness!!

By the way I can see how your blogs can be very time consuming!! This however is your calling!! I hope and pray that your church will continue to support you so that you can use your time to lead others to Christ!!

Thank you again Judy. Truly, none of us are there yet and I myself fall on my face every day to confess my sins, try to empty myself of any human pride, strive to glorify Christ in all I say, do or write, and that is your character too, as I know you. There are mercies from God that go beyond description and there is no sin that God will not forgive those who confess them to Him (1 John 1:9) because God placed our sin on Him who knew no sin so that we might be seen as righteous and declared so in God’s sight (2 Cor 15:21).

I disagree completely with this answer. Birth control works in 3 ways: prevention of ovulation, thickening cervical mucus, and MAKING THE LINING OF THE UTERUS INHOSPITABLE for a FERTILIZED egg. So if the first 2 methods fail to prevent fertilization (which obviously they do, or the 3rd would not be necessary) the fertilized egg is prevented from growing. I consider a fertilized egg to be the beginning of life and by preventing it from growing you are aborting it.
There are birth control methods that do not work this way; condoms (male and female), natural family planning, sponge, outercourse, spermicide, and cervial cap. These I could consider acceptable for a Christian to use if you and your partner agree with the idea of birth control.
However, I would NEVER recommend using a method that could and does prevent a fertilized egg from growing; pill, ring, implant, IUD, morning after pill and shot.

You do have a terrific, concise writing style, Jack! Always wondered about birth-control (being raised Catholic, now I practice being a Presbyterian Christian when I married my wonderful hubby. Oh, God has truly blessed me!) We used birth-control pill during our 1st. year of marriage. Became pregnant during our 2nd. year. A beautiful boy, now 36 years
old. God has always been the Head of our family, and always will be. We’ve had our ‘trials & tribulations’ as most families do. Yet, following God’s Holy Word brings solutions and such peace. Thank you, Jack!

Thank you so much Patricia. I have a strong sense that you are such a godly woman of faith and your family must truly be blessed. Try as we might, God is the giver of children and I bet you have been blessed by your wonderful boy. Thank you for your kind words my friend.

Pastor Jack, my son, Christopher, is indeed a wonderful young man. Sadly, he hasn’t accepted Jesus into his heart. YET. When he was 6 or 7 yrs. old, we all watched a TV Xmas show. Can’t recall the name of it, but there was a scene of violence that upset Chris so much, he actually screamed to turn it off. Realized now, the program was not for young minds. Since then, anything having to do with God, Chris refused to listen to. Our son was baptized and confirmed on the same day when he was 12. I knew in my heart that it meant nothing to him, he was doing it for one of his Grandmas. Today, when I tell him to chat with Jesus about his problems, Chris replies, “Now, Mom, I believe in God my way. OK?” Try as I might, I don’t know how to share Jesus with Chris! Always pray for my precious son, to Jesus and His Blessed Mother for guidance. Must have FAITH someday Chris will know and love our Beloved Savior, Jesus. Just wish I didn’t feel like such a failure as a mother! Please, pray for Chris, Pastor Jack. God loves you!

You must trust in God to bring him to Christ in His own time (John 6:44) because God calls men and women to Christ and He alone knows the best time. You are wise to pray for him for only the Holy Spirit can reveal Who Christ is and it is not your responsibility to have him believe in Christ….it is their response to HIS (God’s) ability but it is our responsibility to tell him and others about Christ. Then leave it up to God for only God can change the human heart (Prov 21:1) but He does hear the prayers of godly mothers praying for their children. Trust Him. You are NOT a failure. No mother that prays for their children to know Christ fails. I will pray with you for Chris.

By the way, praying to or through His blessed mother (Mary I assume) will not help for our Mediator and High Priest is Christ alone as it says in Hebrews and elsewhere and even in the Lord’s Prayer, we are told to ask in Jesus’ name.

Well, consider this verse as well. It would seem to, in it’s very literal multiple truths, seem to implicate that even birth control “letting thy seed hit the ground” is wrong. Whether it’s a reference to birth control methods in general, or God was angry simply because He made a direct command is not too clear to me. Either way, it’s something to consider in your article on us followers of Christ and the moral/spiritual implications of using birth control. Anyways, I very much enjoyed this article! Nice read and very stimulating!

Thank you Daniel. You are so right. I should have included this in the article. Thanks for such great insight. I believe you have the gift of discernment my friend. Iron sharpens iron and rust never sleeps, so thank you sir. Well done.

As I scrolled through your article as to how “birth control” is “different” from abortion because supposedly birth control somehow inhibits conception, I was also amazed that you failed to mention that the “Pill” (as well as the “morning after” pill) works towards flushing out a fertilized egg by creating a hostile environment for said “zygote.” This, then, MUST be considered a form of abortion that CANNOT be overlooked when you are counseling people on “birth control.”

Also, this view that “obviously, if God wants you to get pregnant, then you will, IN SPITE of your contracepting” isn’t displaying faith in God; it is TESTING Him, which is a sin, indeed.
The correct view should then be, “God knows what is best for you. If He thinks that you should not get pregnant, then He will most likely not let that happen, and therefore NO contracepting is necessary, IF you have ANY faith in God at ALL.”

We must distinguish between types of contraception when we use the term “birth control” (BC). When they hear that term, most people probably think of “the pill” or hormonal BC, which I’d like to speak to.

Your assertions are correct that an unjoined egg and sperm are NOT on their own, a person. However, I worry that readers may not understand the potential moral conflict with using hormonal pills as birth control.

I encourage those readers who use the pill to read the fine print in the instructions sometime – or go to the manufacturer’s website to browse the technical print. They will see those disclosures explain how the drugs work. Such pills do USUALLY stop ovulation, but not always. When they do not stop ovulation there is a secondary effect of the pill that most people don’t know about: It causes the lining of the uterus – where a fertilized egg would implant – to become thin and unable to hold the egg. This is a problem because it means that most women who do inadvertently become pregnant while on the pill, will miscarry their child before they ever know they are pregnant, and it will be a direct result of the chemicals the women choose to put in their bodies.

Can you imagine getting to heaven someday and “meeting” 7 new children? Looking at them and the Lord with confusion, most people will gasp as they say, “OH, I never knew!”

Hormonal pills should not be outlawed, as they do have positive uses; treating PCOS for example. But I would encourage any Christian who uses them to only use them as secondary method, opting for a non-invasive, non-hormonal option as a primary method of BC, lest she unwittingly be creating children and setting the stage for their miscarriages.

Remember Hosea who said “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.” Hos. 4:6

To answer this question I would go to Genesis 38.
“… when he went unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: wherfore he slew him also.”
I am a young 21 year old Christian, but I really got light on this subject some time ago in a dream. In the dream my older brother and I are discussing the subject of contraception. But in the dream I am very quick and clear in how to answer this question. I said something like this: “Look at Onan in the old testament. He let his seed go to waste because he did not want a child, and the Lord saw that it was evil. If I used a condom when having sex, I’d be doing the exact same thing as Onan.” My brother answered: “That is true.”

Now some would say “That is just a dream, and you just dreamed about something you have already made up your mind about.” The thing is that I have never thought of it that way. I knew about Onan, but I had never truly thought of him in connection with contraception. Now I know what to answer. If I masturbate, I let my seed go to waste and commit a sin. If I use a condom when having sex, I let my seed go to waste and commit a sin also. This is probably a touchy subject, but let us obey God’s command: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth…” (Gen. 1:28). If that means having 16 children, then let it be so.

Great Book!

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